Windmill



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R. E. HARDAWAY.

; WINDMILL.

No. 588,572. Patented Aug. 24,1897.

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(No Model.) v

R. E; HARDAWAY.

' WINDMILL.

No. 588,572. Patented Aug. 24,1897.

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W UNITED STATES PATENT QEEIC OBERT E. HARDAWAY, or AUSTIN, TEXAS.

WIN D M|LL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Tatent No. 588,572, dated August 24, 1897. Application filed February 24, 1897- Serial No. 624,790. (No model.)

To whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT E. HARDAVVAY,

a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Ans-i tin, in the county of Travis and State of Texas,

have invented a new and useful Windmill, of;

respond to the stories or compartments of the which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in Windmills.

The object of the present invention is to, improve the construction of windmills and to provide a simple, strong, and comparatively speed and which will be capable of obtaining a large amount of power from a comparatively light Wind. 7

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illus-' trated in the drawings, and pointed out in the compress the air gradually as it approaches claims hereto appended. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a windmill constructed in accordance with this invention. -Fig. 2 is a.

vertical sectional View on line 00 a: of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the windwheel, illustrating the manner of attaching the curved blades. a portion of one of the radial partitions, illustrating the arrangement of the pulleys of the doors.

Similar numerals of reference designate, corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

1 designates a vertical wind-wheel shaft to hold the air and rotate the wind-wheel shaft.

The supporting-frame 3 consists of a platform 7 and a"supporting-framework 8, suitably trussed and braced by rods 9..

The casing 4, which receives and surrounds the wind-Wheel, consists of vertical partitions 10, diverging outwardly from the wind-wheel Fig. 4 is a detail View of i and composed of sections and connected by horizontal partitions 11, and a top or roof 12, which divide the easing into a series of stories or compartments,the blades 6 of the windwheel being also composed of sections to corcasing. The sections of the wind-wheel are provided with top and bottom plates 6 and are keyed to the shaft, and the said top and bottom plates 6 are secured to the blades by L-shaped plates or'knees. The top and bottom plates are provided with central circular openings to enable the hearings to be readily lubricated, and'they stiffen and support the sections of the wind-wheel without materially increasing the weight of the same.

The vertical partitions 10, which converge toward the vertical wind-wheel, are disposed substantially tangential with relation to the same,'and they are adapted to constrict and at the periphery of. the casing are divided by narrow. peripheral -partitions.13, which strengthen the casing, and the'latter is also strengthened by curved tie-bars 14, which form circular braces. The parts of thecasing are connected by L-shaped plates or knees 15, which are located above and below thehorizontal partitions ll'and the curved braces or tie-bars l t and are also employed for securing the roof or top 12 to the upper ends of the partitions and the lower terminals of the partitions to the platform 7. The. curved plates or tie-bars 14 are located at the inner edges of thevertical partitions and prevent the lat- .ter from being sprung or bent under the pressure of the wind and maintain them in proper position relative to the wind-wheelto avoid any liability of the blades binding against the partitions.

The vertical wind wheel shaft may, if desired, be constructed of separate sections to correspond to the stories of the cylindrical casing 4 and facilitate handling and shipping, and after a windmill has been constructed new stories may be added to increase its power.

In order to relieve the windmill of an excess of pressure of the air and cause the windwheel to rotate at a uniform speed, the vertical partitions 10 of the casing are provided with inner and outer horizoutally-swinging doors 16 and 17, which are controlled and normally held closed by weights 18 and 19, attached to the lower ends of cords 20 and 21, or other flexible connections, which pass over suitable guide-p ulleys an d which are attached at their upper terminals to the adjacent edges of the doors. Each cord passes over a vertical guide-pulley 22 and is arranged between a pair of horizontal guide-pulleys 23, located at opposite sides of the partition and adapted to receive the cord when the door opens in either direction. Should the pressure of the air exceed the powerof the weights, the doors will be automatically opened to reduce the pressure, and by regulating the weights any normal power of the windmill may be obtained.

The inner doors 16 are hinged at their inner vertical edges, and when it is desired to exclude air entirely from the wind-wheel the weights of the doors 16 are unhooked from their pulleys and the doors are swung transversely of the spaces between the partitions to the position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings and are secured in such position by suitable fastening devices.

The outer doors, which are pivoted between their ends, can be left to swing free by disconnecting the weighted cords from the pulleys to permit the air to blow freely through the casing and relieve the same of strain; but the outer doors may be provided with suitable fastening devices for locking them in their open position to prevent them from swinging freely, and thereby avoid any liability of beinginjured. In the comparatively lighter class of windmills where great power is unnecessary the outer doors and the peripheral partitions may be omitted, and by dispensing with the outer doors the construction is very much simplified.

The top or roof 12 of the casing is also provided with hinged doors 245, which are provided with suitable weights 25 for holding them normally closed and to enable them to resist a given pressure; but when the pressure of the air within the casing is sufficient to overcome the power of the weights 25 the doors 24 are automatically opened, and the casing is relieved of such excess of pressure.

Sufficient space is provided between the vertical edges of the curved blades of the wind-wheel and the inner edges of the vertical partitions 10 to permit the wind-wheel to rotate freely without friction, and these Vertical edges are preferably beveled, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings, to enable them to cut the air and reduce the friction to a minimum.

It will be seen that the windmill is simple, strong, and durable, that it is capable of constricting or compressing the air and concentrating the force of the wind, so as to obtain considerable power from a comparatively light wind, and that the wind-wheel is shielded, so as to protect the blades as they come into the wind to relieve them of friction and to avoid retarding the rotation of the wind-wheel. It will also be apparent that the windmill is adapted to relieve itself antomatically of any excess of pressure and that the parts may be arranged to exclude air entirely from the wind-wheel and permit it to blow freely through the casing in order to relieve the same of all pressure or strain.

The amount of constriction or compression of the air may be increased, if desired, by extending the radial partitions on additional substructures to a greater circle.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, such as employing any suitable mechanism for transmitting motion from the wind-wheel .shaft to the machine or device to be run and varying the number of stories, which may be increased from time to time after the windmill has been constructed and when it is desired to obtain an increase of power.

That I claim is 1. In a windmill, the combination of a vertical shaft, a wind-wheel mounted thereon and composed of curved blades, a casing receiving the wind-wheel and comprising an annular series of vertical partitions convergin g toward the wind-wheel and forming shields for the same, and the narrow peripheral partitions arranged in the spaces between the said partitions, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a windmill, the combination of a casing comprising a series of vertical partitions diverging from the center of the casing and composed of sections, a series of narrow peripheral partitions constructed of sections and a series of horizontal partitions arranged at the terminals of the sections of the Vertical partitions and dividing the easing into separate stories or compartments, a vertical wind-wheel shaft journaled in the casing, and a wind-wheel mounted 011 the shaft and composed of sections corresponding to the compartments or stories of the casement, substantially' as described.

In a windmill, the combination of a casing comprising a series of vertical partitions diverging from the center of the casing and composed of sections, the narrow peripheral partitions composed of sections and located in the spaces between the said partitions, the circular horizontal partitions arranged at the ends of the sections of the said partitions and or compartments of the casing, substantially as described.

4. In a windmill, the combination of a windwheel, a casing receiving the same and provided with a series of vertical partitions converging toward the wind-wheel and adapted to compress and-concentrate the air, reliefdoors mounted on the partitions and adapted to open automatically to relieve the pressure, and means for holding the doors normally closed, substantially as described.

5. In a windmill, the combination of a wind wheel, a casing receiving the same and provided with a series of vertical partitions converging toward the wind-wheel to concentrate the pressure of the air, and a series of reliefdoors mounted on the partitions and adapted to open automatically to relieve the pressure, said doors being arranged to swing transversely of the spaces between the partitions to exclude air from the wind-wheel, substantially as described.

6. In awindmill,thecombination of a windwheel, a casing receiving the same'and provided with converging partitions, and the inner and outer automatically-operated reliefdoors mounted on the partitions and adapted to relieve the pressure, the inner doors being arranged to swing transversely of the spaces between the partitions to exclude air frornthe wind-wheel, and the outer doors being adapted to be arranged to swing free to permit air to pass readily through the casing, whereby the latter is relieved of pressure, substantially as described.

7. In a windmill, the combination of a windwheel provided with vertical blades, a casing receiving the Wind-wheel and having partitions converging toward the same, relief-doors mounted on the partitions, cords connected with the doors and provided with weights,and

the vertical and horizontal guide-pulleys re- ROBERT E. HARDAl/VAY.

Witnesses:

RoBr. J. HAMMOND, WM. H. STACY. 

